e 

v.2\^2^ 


BULLETIN 

CENTRAL  MISSOURI 

STATE  TEACHERS  COLLEGE 


EXPERIMENTAL  WORK 
in  the  TRAINING  SCHOOL 


WARRENSBURG,  MISSOURI 


DECEMBER,  1920 


J 


VOL.  XXI  DECEMBER,  1920  NUMBER  2 


BULLETIN 


Central  Missouri 

State  Teachers  College 

Established  by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly, 

1871,  Organized  May  lo,  1871 — Name  changed  to 
Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  1919 


EXPERIMENTAL  WORK 
in  the  TRAINING  SCHOOL 


Published  by 

d'llK  CENTRAL  MISSOURI  STATE  TEACHERS  COLLEGE 

ISSUED  QUARTERLY 


Entered  at  the  Postoffice  in  lEarrensburg,  Mo.,  as  Second  Class  Mail  Matter 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/experimentalworkOOcent 


s 


FOREWORD. 


The  work  here  presented  has  been  prepared  by  pupils  in  the 
Training  Schoob  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  George  R.  Crissman, 
Superintendent  of  the  school,  and  Miss  Eleanor  Harris,  Associate  in 
Mathematics  and  Supervisor  of  the  teaching  of  Mathematics. 

Air.  Crissman  gives  special  attention  to  experimentation  in  school 
problems  and  Aliss  Harris  has  been  especially  interested  in  the  con- 
struction and  use  of  graphs. 

The  illustrations  given  are  selected  from  a large  number  and 
could  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  I hope  they  may  prove  a stimulus 
to  many  teachers  in  many  ways. 

E.  L.  HENDRICKS, 

President. 


(3) 


4 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


SOME  EDUCATIONAL  PROBLEMS  BEING  INVESTIGATED. 

P^'ollowing  will  be  found  some  live  questions  upon  which  every 
teacher  must  have  judgment,  and  abo  it  which  there  is  much  being  said 
and  written.  The  investigations  given  are  quite  limited  and  mostly 
nontechnical  in  character  but  it  will  be  granted  that  the  conclusions 
reached  are  based  upon  evidence  quite  deserving  of  consideration. 

The  Training  School  is  investigating  a number  of  other  ques- 
tions among  which  may  be  named;  1.  What  is  the  effect  of  periodical 
and.  book  reading  iqion  the  child's  vocabulary?  2.  What  is  the 
correlation  between  the  student’s  I.  Q.  (intelligence  quotient)  and 
his  scholarship  record?  3.  What  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the 
student’s  I.  Q.  as  a basis  for  annual  promotion?  4.  What  subjects 
in  the  High  School  curriculum  function  most  in  the  post-school  life? 
5.  Supervision  and  criticism  vs.  formal  instruction  in  teaching  pen- 
manship. ().  The  value  of  story  telling  in  History,  Reading  and 
p]nglish.  7.  How  to  make  a social  and  industrial  survey  of  your 
community. 

The  purpose  is  to  take  such  questions  and  give  them  such  a 
treatment  as  will  enable  many  of  the  teachers  and  supervising  of- 
ficers of  the  state  to  gather  evidence  supplementary  to  that  sup- 
plied by  us.  It  makes  any  teacher  a better  teacher  to  have  an  educa- 
tional problem  to  work  upon  and  it  takes  away  the  killing  monotony 
of  her  work. 

We  earnestly  invite  the  cooperation  of  all.  Write  to  us  if  you 
are  interested. 

It  is  believed  that  some  of  these  problems  will  prove  of  sufficient 
value  and  interest  to  justify  their  being  read  and  discussed  before 
your  schools. 

GEORGE  R.  GRISSMAN,  A.  M. 

Supt.  of  Training  School. 


HOW  BUILD  GOOD  SPEECH  HABITS? 

First  Problem. — In  English  classes  is  it  best  to  permit  no  in- 
correct word  or  sentence  to  pass  uricorrectedf  Are  fluency,  originality 
and  spontaneity  affected  by  such  a policy?  Is  the  habit  of  using 
good  English  materially  helped  by  such  a policy? 

English  authorities  on  methods  disagree  as  to  the  answers  to 
these  questions.  One  theory  is,  that  all  other  aims  of  the  recitation 
are  sidetracked  by  such  a policy  and  that  this  is  unnecessary  since 
the  building  of  good  speech-habits  can  be  secured  just  as  effectively 
without  using  such  a radical  method.  The  other  theory  is  exactly 
the  contrary.  Which  theory  is  correct? 


Warrenshurg,  Missouri 


5 


Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — A teacher  especially 
capable  of  detecting  bad  English  was  required  to  spend  thirty-two 
hours  inspecting  four  classes  as  described  hereafter.  The  four  English 
teachers  of  these  classes  were  told  of  the  investigation  but  were 
prohibited  from  telling  their  children.  Two  teachers  were  instructed 
to  follow  the  first  theory,  correcting  only  a part  of  the  errors  each 
day,  and  leaving  the  remainder  for  furture  recitations.  The  other 
two  teachers  were  instructed  to  follow  the  second  theory,  permitting 
no  incorrect  word  or  sentence  to  pass  unchallenged  regardless  of  the 
effects  upon  the  other  aims  of  the  lessons.  All  four  teachers  were 
instructed  to  emphasize  the  building  of  correct  speech-habits.  The 
period  of  trial  was  three  months. 

The  inspecting  teacher  was  not  to  visit  the  English  recitations 
but  to  visit  these  same  classes  while  they  recited  Geography.  This 
was  to  see  if  the  English  teaching  carried  over  to  the  other  school 
work.  The  inspecting  teacher  kept  her  problem  to  herself,  letting 
neither  the  Geography  teacher  nor  pupils  know.  She  was  instructed 
to  visit  each  class  eight  times,  four  at  the  beginning  of  the  term  and 
four  at  the  close,  making  exact  notations  of  the  number  and  char- 
acter of  the  errors  in  oral  English. 

The  pupils  of  the  two  Geography  classes  whose  English  teachers 
followed  theory  number  one  made  53  errors  during  the  first  four 
visits  and  38  during  the  last  four  visits,  showing  an  inprovement 
of  29  per  cent  during  the  term;  while  the  pupils  of  the  other  two 
Geography  classes  whose  English  teachers  followed  theory  number 
two,  (correcting  all  errors)  made  34  errors  during  the  first  four  visits 
and  18  during  the  last  four,  making  an  improvement  of  48  per  cent. 

The  improvement  in  both  eases  was  unusual  but  this  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  instructions  given  to  all  four  English  teachers 
to  “emphasize  the  question  of  correct  oral  English.”  The  smaller 
number  of  errors  made  by  the  last  two  classes  is  probably  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  radical  plan  of  “correcting  all  bad  English”  had 
the  effect  of  making  these  pupils  more  conscious  of  their  speech 
defects  from  the  very  first. 

As  to  the  effect  on  the  “fluency,  originality  and  spontaneity” 
of  the  pupils  the  testimony  of  both  the  Supervisors  and  the  two 
teachers  agree  that  during  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  the  children 
were  intimidated  and  a few  even  seemed  resentful,  but  thereafter 
they  talked  just  as  freely,  seemed  to  take  a pride  in  their  growing 
ability  to  recognize  and  use  good  English  and,  further,  clearer  and 
more  discriminating  thought  and  speech  were  secured. 

While  this  investigation  was  too  limited  to  be  considered  con- 
clusive the  evidence  indicates  that  the  second  theory  is  decidedly 
preferable. 


6 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


THE  USE  OF  MOVING  PICTURES. 

Second  Problem. — To  determine  some  of  the  values  of  moving 
pictures,  especially  emphasizing  moral  questions  and  making  a com- 
parison with  Sundy  School  and  church  work. 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — The  questionaire  indi- 
cated below  was  given  to  the  summer  school  students  of  the  Training 
School  in  grades  6 to  12.  The  answers  were  all  written  and  their 
significance  is  perfectly  obvious.  They  are  summarized  as  briefiy 
as  possible. 

Q.  1.  About  how  often  each  month  do  you  attend  picture 
shows. 


Number  who  never  attend 12 

Number  attending  approximately  once  per  month 8 

Number  attending  approximately  twice  per  month 5 

Number  attending  approximately  three  times  per  month.  . . 6 

Number  attending  approximately  four  times  per  month.  ...  18 

Number  attending  more  than  four  times  per  month 40 


Q.  2.  Write  the  last  names  of  all  Movie  Actors  or  Actresses 
whom  you  know  and  the  kinds  of  plays  in  which  they  act. 

Note:  Remember  all  through  these  remaining  questions  that 
there  were  12  children  who  never  attend  picture  shows.  These 
always  appear  in  one  of  the  gourps  under  each  question. 


Number  who  knew  one 5 

Number  who  knew  two 14 

Number  who  knew  three 5 

Number  who  knew  four 7 

Number  who  knew  more  than  four 47 

Q.  3.  What  is  the  Pathe  Weekly? 

Number  who  did  not  know  (see  note  above) 32 

Number  who  knew 59 


Q.  4.  If  you  had  opportunity  to  attend  either  a religious 
picture  show  or  a religious  meeting  Sunday  night,  which  would  you 
prefer? 


Number  preferring  the  show 58 

Number  preferring  the  meeting 33 


Q,  5.  Name  some  picture  show  which  you  attended  last  sum- 


mer (twelve  months  past.) 

Number  not  able  to  name  such  show  (see  note  above) 19 

Number  able  to  name  such  show.  72 


Q.  6.  Tell  something  about  one  show  you  attended. 


Warrenshurg,  Missouri 


7 


Number  unable  to  tell  (see  note  above) 22 

Number  able  to  tell 69 

Q.  7.  Do  you  recall  any  special  sermon  or  Sunday  School 
lesson  of  last  summer,  (twelve  months  past.) 

Number  unable  to  tell  about  either 47 

Number  able  to  tell  about  at  least  one 44 

Q.  8.  Name  people  who  wrote  part  of  the  Bible;  tell  some- 
thing he  wrote. 

Number  who  could  name  no  one 15 

Number  who  could  name  only  one 5 

Number  who  could  name  only  two 4 

Number  who  could  name  only  three 6 

Number  who  could  name  only  four 13 

Number  who  could  name  more  than  four 31 

Q.  9.  Of  what  value  do  you  think  pictures  shows  are?  Answers 
were  interpreted. 

Number  who  think  they  have  no  value  (see  note) 8 

Number  who  do  not  have  an  opinion 15 

Number  who  think  they  aid  the  memory 4 

Number  who  think  they  have  religious  value 1 

Number  who  think  they  have  educational  value 63 

Number  who  think  they  teach  current  events 10 

Number  who  think  they  have  only  entertainment  value ....  20 

Q.  10.  Are  picture  shows  mostly  good  or  bad? 

Number  who  had  no  opinion.- 8 

Number  who  believed  them  mostly  bad 17 

Number  who  believed  them  mostly  good 66 

Q.  11.  Do  you  think  more  people  attend  picture  shows  than 
Sunday  school  and  church? 

Number  who  think  more  go  to  Sunday  School  and  church.  . 25 

Number  who  think  more  go  to  picture  shows 66 


CHILDREN’S  CHARACTERIZATION  OF  THE  BEST  TEACHER. 

Third  Problem. — What  are  the  children’s  ideas  of  what  con- 
stitutes the  most  helpful  teacher? 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — Two  questions  were 
asked  and  the  children  of  grades  6 to  12  were  asked  to  write  five 
minutes  on  them. 

' First  Question: — Think  of  the  best  teacher  you  ever  had  and 
tell  in  what  way  or  ways  this  teacher  was  especially  helpful.  The 
answers  were  interpreted  and  classified  as  follows: 


8 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


Forty  seven  told  how  their  ideal  teacher  helped  them  in  their 
studies. 

Eleven  were  taught  to  concentrate. 

Seven  got  their  greatest  help  by  the  example  set  by  teacher. 

Twelve  were  discouraged  and  the  teacher  gave  them  new  courage. 

Three  were  helped  by  having  good  reading  suggested. 

Thirty-four  were  helped  most  by  the  clear  explanation  made 
by  the  teacher. 

Twenty  three  were  made  to  like  school  because  the  teacher 
made  the  work  interesting. 

Second  Question: — Do  you  recall  any  special  act  or  word  of 
this  teacher  which  greatly  helped  you?  The  following  were  the 
most  characteristic.  “Don’t  cry,  I will  help  you.”  “Do  not  stop 
at  the  first  trial.”  “Try,  try,  again.”  “Do  not  work  too  long  on 
this  one  problem.”  “You  are  getting  along  nicely  for  the  time  you 
have  been  in  school.”  “Never  give  up  while  there  is  a chance.” 
“You  are  handing  in  neat  papers.”  “If  you  want  a grade,  get  your 
lessons.”  “Try  to  break  your  own  record.”  “You  can  do  it  if  you 
try  hard  enough.”  “If  you  did  well  to-day  you  can  do  better  to- 
morrow.” “A  hint  to  the  wise  is  sufficient.”  “That  task  was  well 
done.”  “Work  to  a knife  line.”  “You  explained  that  excerise  very 
well  indeed.”  “Keep  happy,  no  matter  how  hard  your  work  may  be.” 

Third  Question: — What  particular  personal  quality  characterized 
your  ideal  teacher? 

Sixty-five  gave  kindness.  Six,  patience.  Five,  politeness.  Twenty 
seven,  neatness.  Thirty  two,  cheerfulness.  Eighteen,  pleasant  voice. 
Nineteen,  firmness.  Six,  thoughtfulness.  Eight,  impartiality.  Eleven 
beauty. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  WORK  OF  RURAL  AND  TOWN  SCHOOL, 
CHILDREN  COMPARED. 

Fourth  Problem. — Who  makes  the  better  record  in  the  High 
School  the  graduates  of  the  eighth  grade  in  town  schools  or  the  rural 
school  graduates?  In  what  subject  or  subjects  does  each  excel? 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — The  total  scholarship 
records  of  178  pupils  were  compiled.  This  included  two  graduating 
classes  and  the  present  11th  and  12th  grades  of  the  Training  School. 
Forty-five  of  these  came  from  the  rural  schools  and  one  hundred 
thirty-three  came  from  the  grade  schools. 


The  av.  H.S.  scholarship  record  of  city  school  pupils  was 77 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  school  pupils  was 81.2 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  English 79 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  English 82.4 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  Mathematics.  74.9 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  Mathematics  80.5 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  History 79 


W arrensburg,  Missouri 


9 


The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  History 81.3 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  Science 81.  5 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  Science 82.  4 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  Latin 82.6 

The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  Latin 75 


The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  German  & F..  82.2 
The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  German  & F..  75 
The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  city  pupils  in  Technical  Subj.  82.4 
The  av.  H.  S.  scholarship  record  of  rural  pupils  in  Technical  Subj.  84.  2 

Note:  Too  much  must  not  be  deduced  from  these  results  as 
the  rural  school  pupils  are  more  of  a select  group  than  are  the  grad- 
uates of  the  eighth  grade  in  the  town  schools.  A larger  per  cent 
of  the  latter  go  to  the  High  School. 


THE  VOCABULARIES  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  STUDENTS. 

Fifth  Problem. — What  is  the  effect  upon  children’s  vocabularies 
of  1.  The  study  of  Etymology  or  Word  Analysis?  2.  The  study 
of  Latin?  3.  Being  reared  in  a family  where  the  mother  had  a 
High  School  or  College  education? 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — A.  standard  vocabulary 
test  was  given  to  the  students  from  14  to  19  years  old.  At  the  same 
time  each  child  was  required  to  state  1.  Whether  or  not  he  had 
taken  the  course  in  Word  Analysis  offered  in  the  freshman  year  of 
the  Training  School  High  School.  2.  Whether  he  had  had  as 
much  as  one  year  of  Latin.  3.  Had  the  mother  had  a High  School 
or  College  education. 

The  results  showed  regarding  the  study  of  Word  Analysis,  that 
25  had  taken  the  course  and  21  had  not.  The  average  vocabulary 
of  the  25  was  990  words  greater  than  that  of  the  21. 

Regarding  those  who  studied  Latin;  6 had  studied  it  and  43 
had  not.  The  average  vocabulary  of  the  6 was  900  greater  than  that 
of  the  43. 

Regarding  the  effect  of  the  mother’s  education;  21  of  the  mothers 
had  had  a High  School  or  College  education  and  26  had  not.  The 
average  vocabulary  of  the  first  group  was  1260  words  greater  than 
that  of  the  second  group. 


SCHOOL  VIRTUES  AND  BUSINESS  VIRTUES. 

Sixth  Problem. — The  correlation  of  habits  of  tardiness  and 
irregularity  with  grades  and  scholarship? 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — The  total  scholarship 
records  of  all  pupils  in  the  Training  School  above  the  third  grade 
were  compiled.  All  these  pupils  were  also  graded  in  promi)tness, 


10 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


regularity  and  attendance.  All  grades  below  70  were  ranked  IV. 
All  between  70  and  80  were  ranked  III,  all  between  80  and  95  were 
ranked  II  and  all  above  95  were  I.  Then  the  pupils  were  all  placed 
in  ranks  I,  II,  III  or  IV,  both  as  to  scholarship  and  regularity,  etc. 

Here  are  the  results: 

Attendance,  \ ^ 

Promptness,  J . . .These  same  pupils  in  scholarship. 

113  ranked  I,  24  ranked  I,  81  ranked  II,  7 ranked  III,  1 ranked  IV. 

44  ranked  II,  4 ranked  I 9 ranked  II,  11  ranked  III,  0 ranked  IV. 

26  ranked  III,  0 ranked  I,  13  ranked  II,  13  ranked  III,  0 ranked  IV. 

55  ranked  IV,  ranked  I,  13  ranked  II,  34  ranked  III,  5 ranked  IV. 

Discussion: — A little  calculation  with  the  above  figures  gives 
the  following  'percentages  of  probability  which  parents  should  consider 
seriously  before  permitting  children  to  be  irregular  in  attendance 
or  tardy  at  school.  Other  determining  factors  are  not  here  con- 
sidered. 

If  a child  ranks  high  (I)  in  attendance,  promptness  etc.,  he  is 
three  times  as  sure  of  making  high  grades  (I  or  II)  in  scholarship 
as  if  he  ranked  low  (IV).  Conversel5^  if  he  ranks  low  in  attendance 
(IV),  he  is  ten  times  as  sure  of  making  a failure  (IV)  in  his  school 
work  as  if  he  ranked  high  (I.) 

In  other  words  the  irregular,  tardy  child  has  a “1  to  3”  chance 
of  making  a good  grade  in  school  and  a “10  to  1”  chance  of  making 
a failure. 

School  is  the  student’s  business  establishment.  The  student  who 
is  willing  to  treat  his  school  obligations  lightly  will  almost  certainly 
treat  any  other  obligation  lightly.  Parents,  themselves,  little  realize 
how  the  child’s  school  habits  carry  over  into  the  whole  life  after 
school.  “Train  up  a child  in  the  way  he  should  go;  and  when  he 
is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it.”  The  very  fact  that  a child  or 
parent  regards  school  obligations  lightly  is  almost  certain  evidence 
that  school  work  is  undervalued  and  this  in  turn  means  carelessness 
and  low  grade  work. 

Why  does  the  business  world  regard  tardiness  and  irregularity 
as  unpardonable  sins?  Could  not  the  tardy  employee  make  up  the 
10  minutes  he  was  late?  Certainly,  but  it  shows  his  attitude  toward 
his  job — his  undervaluation  of  his  work — therefore  he  is  not  wanted. 

Why  should  the  teacher,  the  parent  and  the  pupil  regard  these 
virtues  the  same  as  the  business  man?  Because  they  have  the  same 
significance  in  school  as  in  business. 

Moral: — The  habitually  irregular  or  tardy  child  has  a “I  to  3” 
chance  of  making  a good  grade  in  school  and  a “10  to  I”  chance  of 
making  a failure. 


Warrenshurg,  Missouri 


11 


WHAT  A HEALTH  EXAMINATION  OF  YOUR  SHOOL  WOULD 

SHOW. 

Seventh  Problem. — To  ascertain  the  health  conditions  in  our 
schools. 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — In  the  Training  School 
last  summer  a thorough  but  free  medical  examination  was  provided. 
The  local  physicians  and  dentists  gave  free  service.  Examination 
was  offered  to  161  children  above  the  fifth  grade,  seventy  of  whom 
accepted  the  offer.  While  this  problem  deals  with  this  seventy  it 
is  the  opinion  of  the  faculty  that  the  91  who  refused  the  free  examina- 
tion needed  it  more  than  those  who  took  it. 

Of  the  seventy  examined,  forty-five  had  decayed  or  unhealthy 
teeth;  twenty-five  had  enlarged  or  infected  tonsils;  twenty-three  had 
abnormal  or  unhealthy  noses;  nineteen  had  unhealthy  eyelids  while 
three  had  trachoma;  twelve  had  defective  eyesight;  twelve  had  un- 
healthy mouths  and  throats;  ten  had  defective  hearing;  eight  were 
mouth  breathers;  and  seven  had  unhealthy  eyeballs. 

Of  the  entire  seventy  only  nine  were  in  perfect  condition.  Ten 
were  affected  in  one  point;  eighteen  in  two;  sixteen  in  three;  eleven 
in  four;  five  in  five  and  one  in  seven. 

Is  this  the  condition  in  your  school? 

If  it  is,  how  can  we  be  “at  ease  in  Zion”  while  we  know  that 
our  children  are  rendering  themselves  only  50  per  cent  efficient  and 
are  suffering  and  dying  because  of  their  and  their  parents’  ignorance? 

Let  every  Missouri  teacher  boost  for  the  health  crusade  that 
is  now  being  pushed  by  the  state  and  nation.  Statistics  show  that 
Massachusetts  has  by  health  instruction  and  regulation  added  four- 
teen years  to  the  average  length  of  life  of  her  citizens. 

WHY  NOT  MISSOURI? 


MEASURING  TEACHING  BY  THE  AIMS. 

Eighth  Problem. — To  make  a simple  statement  of  the  McMurry- 
Earhart  standards  by  which  teaching  efficiency  is  measured  and  to 
ascertain  the  emphasis  placed  on  each  by  the  student-teachers  of 
the  Training  School. 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — Fifteen  teachers  were 
selected  and  each  was  observed  during  three  fifty-minute  periods. 
During  these  observations  attention  was  directed  entirely  to  the 
aim  or  character  of  the  teaching  and  an  effort  was  made  to  divide 
most  of  the  time  among  the  aims  named  below.  It  is  granted  that 
part  of  what  was  done  could  not  be  placed  under  any  of  these  head- 


12 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


ings.  Such  time  was  not  included.  During  these  three  observations 
the  fifteen  teachers  devoted  the  following  amounts  of  time  to  each 
of  the  aims  listed  below: 

Aim  1,  finding  specific  purposes  for  what  was  learned,  10  min. 

Aim  2,  judging  the  worth  of  material  and  of  statements,  260  min. 

Aim  3,  supplementing  thought,  555  minutes. 

Aim  4,  memorizing,  25  minutes. 

Aim  5,  testing  for  knowledge,  330  minutes. 

Aim  6,  organization  of  thought,  110  minutes. 

Aim  7,  using  or  applying  ideas,  110  minutes. 

Aim  8,  teaching  pupils  how  to  work,  115  minutes. 

If  these  figures  represent  the  approximate  truth  then  we  will 
agree  that  aims  1,  4,  6,  7 were  insufficiently  emphasized  while  aim 
5 (here  is  the  danger  for  all  of  us)  was  over  emphasized.  The  at- 
tention given  to  aims  2,  3,  6,  7 and  8 is  quite  creditable.  On  the 
whole  we  believe  the  record  is  far  above  the  average  of  the  country. 


SIT  UP  AND  LOOK  AT  TEACHER. 

Ninth  Problem. — To  point  out  how  valuable  it  is  for  children 
to  sit  erect,  look  at  the  teacher,  keep  both  feet  on  the  floor,  stand 
erect,  and  hold  books  correctly  when  studying.  We  often  say  that 
these  things  affect  health  but  how  do  they  affect  school  work? 

Method  of  Investigation  and  Results. — Eighty-five  students  in 
the  Training  School  were  systematically  observed,  being  graded  eight 
different  times,  to  determine  the  relation  between  the  scholarship 
of  these  pupils  and  their  physical  attitude  in  school.  They  were 
carefully  graded  on  the  above  points  and  ranked  as  I,  II,  III  or  IV. 
Then  their  total  scholarship  records  were  compiled  and  compared 
with  their  ranking  on  “Physical  Attitude.”  Here  again,  other 
determining  factors  are  not  considered. 

Here  are  the  results:  In  physical  attitude  24  ranked  I;  40 
ranked  II;  16  ranked  III;  and  5 ranked  IV.  Of  the  24  I’s  in  physical 
attitude,  16  were  I in  scholarship;  7 were  II;  1 was  III  and  0 were  IV. 
Of  the  40  IPs  in  physical  attitude,  2 ranked  I in  scholarship;  35 
ranked  II;  3 ranked  III  and  0 ranked  IV.  Of  the  16  who  ranked 
III  in  physical  attitude  0 ranked  I in  scholarship;  6 ranked  II;  7 
ranked  III  and  3 ranked  IV.  Of  the  5 who  ranked  IV  in  physical 
attitude  0 ranked  I in  scholarship;  0 ranked  II;  3 ranked  III  and  2 
ranked  IV. 

Computing  the  probability  from  the  above  figures  we  find  that 
a child  who  is  careful  about  his  physical  at’titude  has  a “3  to  1” 
chance  of  making  a high  grade  in  school,  while  carelessness  in  phy- 
sical attitude  gives  him  a “12  to  1”  chance  of  making  a low  or  failing 
grade  in  his  studies. 

Moral. — Look  out  for  the  physical  attitude  of  your  children. 


Warrenshurg,  Missouri 


13 


SOME  WORK  IN  GRAPHS  AS  PRESENTED  IN  THE  TRAIN- 
ING SCHOOL,  ELEANORA  HARRIS,  A.  M. 

In  the  increasing  list  of  experiments  in  the  reorganization  of 
Junior  and  Senior  High  School  curricula  are  included  careful  in- 
vestigations of  the  content  of  mathematics  courses.  Two  factors 
affecting  the  selection  of  a course  of  study  are  the  demands  for  its 
content  as  a tool  for  most  effective  work  in  school  subjects  and 
other  activities  of  the  pupils;  and  the  relationship  of  its  material 
to  adequate  preparation  for  adult  activities.  In  mathematics  there 
is  now  a tendency  to  stress  applications.  It  is  pretty  well  recognized 
that  practical  work  in  mathematics  must  include,  among  other  things, 
the  cultivation  of  the  ability  and  the  habit  of  observing,  reading 
and  interpreting  graphs  and  the  making  of  simple  ones.  Since  the 
graph  is  relatively  a new  device  in  secondary  mathematics  great 
variation  in  its  treatment  exists.  The  purpose  of  this  article  is  to 
show  how  some  features  of  graphic  work  are  being  developed  in  actual 
practice  in  our  Training  School  Junior  and  Senior  High  Schools. 

Two  things  determine  our  method  of  treatment  of  graphs. 
First,  the  fact  that  the  graph  is  a tool.  Second,  the  belief  that  there 
must  be  training  in  use  of  the  graph  in  situations  familiar  to  the 
pupils  and  related  to  adult  activities  in  order  to  insure  that  the 
graph  will  function  in  later  school  life  and  in  adult  life. 

Work  in  graphs  is  distributed  throughout  the  mathematics 
courses  in  connection  with  the  treatment  of  the  various  topics  and 
is  not  an  end  in  itself. 

Pupils  are  encouraged  to  make  a collection  of  graphs  illustrating 
advertisements  and  catalogues  and  articles  in  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines. The  pupils  discuss  these  graphs  and  criticise  them  both 
favorably  and  unfavorably.  Many  such  graphs  are  sources  of 
valuable  information  that  may  be  used  in  their  school  work.  Such 
study  of  graphs  enables  pupils  to  select  the  form  of  graph  suited 
to  represent  data  they  collect. 

Training  is  given  in  recognizing  and  securing  definite  and  measur- 
able data  from  the  various  school  subjects  and  other  fields  of  child 
and  adult  work  and  recreation.  There  is  training  in  classifying 
and  tabulating  data  according  to  definite  plans  in  order  to  make 
possible  actual  practice  in  effective,  economical  and  accurate  graph- 
ing of  the  figures  secured  by  the  pupils. 

The  graphs  illustrating  this  article  mainly  represent  sets  of  un- 
related quantities,  such  as  number  of  pupils  in  the  different  classes. 
Figure  1.  Functional  graphs  and  the  use  of  graphs  in  the  solution 
of  equations  are  stressed  particularily  from  the  ninth  grade  on. 
They  are  not  emphasized  here  because  they  receive  most  attention 
in  text  books  commonly  used  in  the  schools.  The  graphs  shown 
have  been  selected  as  fair  representatives  of  some  standard  methods 
which  are  used  by  our  pupils  and  their  student  teachers. 


14 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


In  the  interest  of  economy  of  time  and  energy  needed  for  the 
making  of  graphs,  of  ease  in  handling  and  of  interpreting  graphs, 
and  of  training  in  use  of  business  methods,  our  graphs  are  usually 
plotted  on  co-ordinate  paper,  8^-inch  by  11-inch  in  size.  Cross 
section  paper  with  strong  dark  colored  lines  is  used  if  it  is  desired 
that  the  co-ordinate  lines  show  plainly,  as  in  Figures  1,  2,  3 and  4. 
If  it  is  not  desirable  that  the  co-ordinate  lines  show  plainly,  paper 
with  faint  blue  lines  is  selected. 

Lettering  for  graphs  is  done  on  the  typewriter  or  by  hand.  When- 
ever practical  the  lettering  is  placed  in  the  margin  and  not  in  the 
ruled  field.  The  amount  of  lettering  needed  in  order  to  make  the 
meaning  of  the  graph  clear  to  the  reader  is  an  important  factor  in 
the  selection  of  suitable  forms  of  graphs  to  be  used  in  representing 
sets  of  data. 

In  order  to  illustrate  our  actual  practice  in  graphic  work  and 
to  avoid  giving  detailed  technique,  photographs  of  some  graphs 
made  by  pupils  are  given  here.  Small  areas  were  not  ruled  by  hand 
to  suit  exactly  each  set  of  data  as  is  often  done  for  illustration  of 
magazine  articles.  A few  of  the  faint  blue  printed  vertical  co-ordinate 
lines  were  retraced  in  black  ink  in  the  making  of  the  graph  shown 
in  Figure  7. 

Single  dimension  illustrations,  or  bars,  are  best  for  simple  com- 
parison of  size.  The  use  of  this  graphic  device  is  illustrated  in  the 
first  eight  figures.  The  order  of  arrangement  is  usually  according 
to  size  of  items,  the  largest  to  the  left  as  in  Figures  1 and  3 ; or  at  the 
top  as  in  Figures  4,  6 and  7.  In  Figure  5 the  order  is  according  to 
desirability  of  the  items.  For  the  same  reason  our  scores  were  re- 
presented before  those  of  the  opponent  in  Figure  2.  The  sequence 
of  the  items  in  time  determined  the  order  of  the  pairs  of  bars  in  Figures 
2 and  8. 

Because  of  the  comparatively  large  number  of  items  compared, 
Maxime  Duckwell,  Grade  7,  used  heavy  lines  instead  of  bars  in 
picturing  comparison  of  size  of  mathematics  classes.  Figure  1.  She 
made  her  own  selection  of  scale  units  and  in  her  discussion  of  the 
graph  gave  her  reasons. 

Color  conventions  for  chart  work  are  observed  by  Fred  Brokaw, 
Grade  7,  in  his  graph.  Figure  2.  Red,  a danger  signal  is  used  in 
representing  the  scores  of  the  opposing  team.  Green  is  used  to 
represent  the  scores  our  team  made,  desirable  scores.  Pupils  enjoy 
making  this  graph  and  they  take  great  interest  in  seeing  it  grow  as 
new  scores  are  added  from  time  to  time.  The  scores  shown  by 
Fred  are  for  games  played  up  to  December  1.  His  use  of  grouped 
bars  admits  of  different  comparisons.  For  each  game  the  scores  of 
the  two  teams  are  easily  compared;  and  the  scores  made  by  either 
team  may  be  compared  for  the  series  of  games.  Figure  8 shows  a 
similar  use  of  grouped  bars. 

The  twenty  pupils  in  Arithmetic  7c  made  graphs  showing  growth 
in  weight  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  class.  They  used  colored 


Warrenshurq,  Missouri 


15 


heavy  lines  in  the  same  manner  that  Fred  used  bars  in  his  graph. 
The  multiplicity  of  lines  caused  confusion.  As  shown  in  Figure  3, 
Jean  Scott  used  outline  bars  to  represent  the  weights  of  the  girls 
of  the  class  October  23  and  heavy  black  lines  were  drawn  through 
the  center  of  the  bars  to  show  weight  in  November.  In  her  graph 
norm.al  weights  are  denoted  by  horizontal  broken  lines  drawn  across 
the  bars.  Jean’s  arrangement  is  economical  of  space  and  clearly 
represents  the  facts.  For  instance,  it  is  clear  that  H.  K.  was  under 
normal  weight  when  weighed  in  October  and  that  she  weighed  less 
in  November  than  in  October. 

The  horizontal  arrangement  of  bars  in  Figure  4 is  especially 
appropriate  for  representing  the  data  graphed  by  Eugene  DesCombes, 
Grade  8.  The  actual  figures  would  have  been  j laced  at  the  left  of 
the  bar  as  in  Figures  5,  6 and  8,  had  the  width  of  margin  on  the  cross- 
section  paper  available  permitted  it.  Comparison  of  the  two  com- 
ponent parts  with  each  other  and  with  the  whole  is  easily  made  since 
the  decimal  points  are  in  line  and  the  calculations  may  be  made 
easily. 

Mary  Harper,  Grade  10,  pictures  comparison  of  component  parts 
in  two  ways  in  Figure  5.  As  noted  above,  desirability  of  items 
determined  her  order  of  arrangement  of  bars.  Since  the  items  are 
few  in  number,  perhaps  comparison  can  be  made  as  easily  as  if  the 
bars  were  arranged  in  order  of  size  of  items.  For  a'  large  numbe 
of  items,  arrangement  according  to  order  of  size  is  better.  Sector 
graphs  are  much  used  for  representing  comparison  of  parts  with  the 
whole.  This  form  of  graph  is  good  when  percentages  are  used. 
For  actual  numbers  the  bars  are  preferable.  Mary  might  have  shown 
a bar  to  represent  the  total,  as  was  done  in  Figure  6.  However, 
she  did  not  do  so  as  the  total  number  of  marks  was  not  the  thing 
she  wished  to  bring  out  particularly.  The  relative  number  of  marks  de- 
noting excess,  normal  or  diminished  credit,  is  the  thing  she  wished 
to  show.  She  rightly  includes  exact  figures  in  her  graph.  For  a 
large  number  of  sectors  the  percentages  should  be  placed  without 
the  circle  to  avoid  difficulty  in  making  comparisons. 

An  exceedingly  useful  standard  method  of  comparison  of  compo- 
nent parts  is  used  in  Figure  6 by  Frances  Krohn  in  the  graphing  of 
data  relating  to  the  school  garden,  work  of  the  class  in  Agriculture, 
Grade  11.  The  arrangement  of  “eye-catchers,”  name  of  items,  actual 
figures  and  bars  is  good.  The  “eye-catcher”  feature  may  often  be 
obtained  by  the  use  of  pictures  cut  from  catalogues  and  pasted  in 
the  graph.  Not  many  pupils  can  draw  them  well.  Neat  cross 
hatching  is  also  difficult.  One  pupil  graphed  the  same  data  using 
colors,  yellow,  blue,  brown  and  black.  These  colors  were  used  be- 
cause, according  to  color  conventions  in  chart  work,  they  denote 
neither  favorableness  nor  unfavorableness  of  features  pictured.  The 
colors  were  used  in  the  order  named,  running  from  light  to  dark, 
in  order  to  avoid  optical  illusion.  The  upper  bar  denoting  the  total 
profit  did  not  appear  constricted  at  any  point.  The  colors  brought 


16 


Central  Missouri  State  Teachers  College 


out  the  facts  perhaps  better  than  does  the  cross  hatching  used  by 
Frances,  They  make  a graph  attractive  and  are  economical  of 
time.  On  account  of  cost  in  printing  it  is  not  practical  to  show  the 
graph  in  which  colors  appear.  In  general,  black  and  white  are  all 
that  are  needed  in  graphic  work.  Colors  may  be  used  occasionally. 

Geography,  general  science  and  many  other  school  subjects, 
as  well  as  agriculture,  furnish  data  suitable  to  the  method  used  in 
Figure  6.  It  is  a popular  form,  and  is  easily  made  and  interpreted. 

The  right-and-left  arrangement  of  bars  used  in  Figure  7 by 
Jerome  Andes  is  convenient  for  use  in  picturing  rank  of  items.  The 
data  were  secured  by  the  Commercial  Geography  class  of  which 
Jerome  is  a member.  The  right-and-left  arrangement  makes  com- 
parison of  size  somewhat  difficult.  However,  since  the  rank  of  the 
items  and  not  the  actual  size  is  being  compared,  and  since  the  actual 
figures  are  given,  the  method  is  appropriate.  The  same  method 
might  be  used  to  show  rank  of  business  items  ranked  according  to 
profit  and  loss,  or  receipts  and  expenditures.  In  agriculture  the 
amount  of  crops  raised  for  different  years  might  be  shown  on  one 
side  and  the  value  of  the  crops  for  the  same  years  shown  on  the  other 
side.  In  October  the  bureau  of  immigration  issued  a “table  of  races” 
showing  increase  and  decrease  in  population  for  1920  up  to  July  1. 
Part  of  these  data  was  graphed  by  the  method  used  by  Jerome. 

One  day  our  superintendent  remarked  “I  wonder  if  our  Training 
School  appeals  to  boys  as  well  as  to  girls?”  In  response,  data  was 
collected  and  a graph  made  by  Genevieve  Mohler,  Grade  11.  Figure 
8 shows  that  the  contrast  between  increase  and  decrease  in  enroll- 
ment of  boys  and  girls  in  the  different  grades  is  well  brought  out 
by  the  right-and-left  arrangement  of  bars  as  used  by  her.  This 
form  of  graph  is  easily  made  and  interpreted  and  may  well  be  used 
in  graphing  many  sets  of  data.  The  use  of  arrows  pointing  to  the 
right  and  to  the  left  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  zero  line  is  not 
at  the  left-hand  edge  of  the  graph  is  to  be  noted.  The  placing  of 
the  actual  figures  between  the  title  for  each  item  and  the  end  of  the 
bar  conforms  to  the  standard  arrangement  for  data  for  hortizonal 
bar  comparison. 

Some  uses  of  the  straight-line  graph  or  the  so-called  “curve” 
are  illustrated  in  Figures  9,  10,  11  and  12.  Pupils  in  the  seventh 
grade  can  easily  make  and  understand  simple  graphs  of  this  sort. 
Such  work  is  good  preparation  for  the  plotting  of  curves  in  the  ninth 
grade  in  connection  with  equations  and  problem-solving.  In  general, 
intervals  of  time  or  independent  variables  should  be  shown  along  the 
horizontal  axis  and  dependent  variables  along  the  vertical  axis. 

Some  of  the  pupils  in  Arithmetic,  Grade  8b,  thought  that  the 
thermostat  in  their  room  was  not  registering  properly.  A ther- 
mometer was  secured  from  the  college  science  department  and  read- 
ings were  made  for  several  days  by  the  pupils  and  checked  by  their 
student  teacher.  Mary  Ellen  Aber,  a member  of  the  class,  graphed 
the  readings,  Figure  9. 


Warrenshurg,  Missouri 


17 


The  Freshmen  watch  their  report  cards  carefully.  Lawrence 
Lee  Bethel  graphed  the  Marks  he  made.  He  claims  that  it  helped 
him  keep  up  his  grades.  Figure  10  shows  that  he  did  beat  his  past 
record  several  times. 

A frequency  distribution  is  displayed  in  Figure  11,  by  Elizabeth 
Lunn,  Grade  10.  Such  distributions  may  also  be  shown  by  the 
vertical  bar  form.  In  the  use  of  either  method  the  frequencies  are 
showing  along  the  vertical  axis. 

Marjorie  Barnett,  a student  teacher,  used  the  Rugg-Clark 
Standardized  Practice  Exercises  in  connection  with  the  algebra  work 
her  class  was  doing.  She  made  graphs  of  the  scores  made.  For 
Set  No.  2 Figure  12  shows  the  attainment  of  her  class  from  first 
trial  to  fifth  trial.  The  first  trial  only  20  per  cent  of  the  class  reached 
the  standard  score  for  “rights”  which  is  12  problems  in  five  minutes. 
The  fifth  trial  80  per  cent  of  the  class  solved  12  or  more  problems 
correctly.  This  year  we  are  trying  out  these  Practice  Exercises 
very  carefully  and  hope  to  have  some  very  interesting  data  by  the 
end  of  the  school  year. 

Graphs  of  the  character  of  those  shown  in  Figures  10,  11  and 
12  are  well  worth  while  for  teachers  to  make.  It  is  one  method  of 
checking  up  the  results  they  are  obtaining  in  their  teaching  work. 

The  discussion  of  graphs  as  treated  in  our  Training  School  High 
Schools,  Grades  7 to  12,  inclusive,  may  be  summarized  thus: 

1.  Pupils  study  graphs  taken  from  newspapers  and  other 
sources. 

2.  Statistical  material  is  collected,  tabulated  and  graphed. 

3.  There  is  much  graphing  of  concrete  data  secured  from 
various  kinds  of  school  and  adult  work  and  recreations. 

4.  Most  of  the  work  of  graphing  equations  and  solving  of 
problems  by  the  use  of  graphs  is  done  from  the  ninth  year  on. 

5.  Training  in  graphic  expression  is  continued  throughout  the 
mathematics  courses  of  the  various  years. 

6.  There  is  an  attempt  to  use  standard  methods  as  determined 
by  best  usage. 

7.  The  graph  is  a tool.  Therefore,  in  their  efforts  to  train 
the  pupils  to  use  graphs  intelligently  and  profitably,  the  teachers 
try  to  observe  the  principles  governing  economical  and  efficient 
use  of  tools. 


PUPILS 

30 


25 


GRADE  9 9 10  11  10  8 7 10  7 8 11  9 

FIGURE  1. 

SIZE  OF  MATHEMATICS  CLASSES,  FALL,  1920. 


SCORES 

45 


GAMES 


12345  6 


FIGURE  2. 

BASKET  BALL  RECORD,  1920. 


FIGRUE  3. 
GROWTH  OF  GIRLS. 
GRADE  7 C. 


Receipis 

Expeadi^ures 


Balance 


FIGURE  4. 

STUDENT  ACTIVITES  ACCOUNT. 
APRIL  1,  1919— DECEMBER  1,  1920. 


A.  Bxcess  Credit  - - 

B.  Norma-1  Credit  - - 

C.  Diminished  Credit 


33  or  \b.n%  I 35  I 
120  or  6o.6j5  I 120 

- 45  or  22. T%  I 45  I 


Figure  5.  Two  methods  ot  showing  distribution  of  I98  Term  Marks  giving 
"credit  for  quality"  for  work  done  in  Mathematics  in  the  Training  School  Jun- 
ior and  Senior  High  Schools.  Fall  Term,  1920. 


Total*  Profit  on  ProclaC(i;^57.80 


Tornato£5^l  3.37 


All  Q\W^\o.n 


Bcuas^io.oslliil  ,l!Ij 


Pum|oklnS^5.6oLlj 

Figure  6 • Tke  Tr  ainin^  BcKool  Garden  ProjiVI5)20- 


1913 

NATIONALITIES 

R 

A 

N 

K 

1919 

NATIONALITIES 

1274.147 

Italian 

1 

English 

36,168 

174.365 

Polish 

2 

Irish 

26,636 

101.330 

Hebrew 

3 

French 

19.518 

80.865 

German 

4 

Scandinavian  19,172 

55,526 

Sngliah 

5 

Hexloan 

17.198 

51.472 

Russian 

6 

Scot 

13,515^ 

Thousands 

200  240  200  l60  120  80  40 


Figure  7-  The  "Older"  and  the  "Newer”  American  Immigrant*. 


^Decrease 


^Increase  . 


FIGURE  8. 

GROWTH  OF  TRAINING  SCHOOL  JUNIOR  AND  SENIOR  HIGH 
SC^HOOLS.  PERCENTAGES  FOR  BOYS  AND  FOR  GIRLS  CAL- 
(HJLATED  SEPARATELY  FOR  FALL  TERM,  1920,  OVER  FALL 
TERM,  1919. 


FIGURE  9. 

('’oinparison  of  Ther- 
mometer (full  - drawn 
line  ) and  Thermostat 
(broken  line)  readings 
for  seven  days  at  Period 
IV,  Room  3b4B,  Train- 
ing School.  November, 
1920. 


i^arks 


FIGURE  10. 

A Uomparison  of  marks  made  by  Lawrence  Lee 
Bethel,  Grade  9.  Fall  Term,  1920. 


4 5-  3 3t  2-  2 2+1-1  1-+ 

P^IGURP]  11. 

Distribution  of  Geometry  Marks,  1919-20.  The  Mark  made  is  shown 
along  the  horizontal  axis.  The  percentage,  of  the  40  pupils  making  each 
mark  is  shown  along  the  vertical  axis. 


FIGURE  12. 

Gomparison  of  scores  made  by  10  i)iipils  solving  llu*  ])robl(uns  in  (he 
Rugg-Cdark  Standardized  Practice  Exercisers,  S(d  XO.  2,  Simple  Ecpia- 
tions.  V 


: ; 


i >,.;■?> ‘4^, . 


